The Great Book of Heroes
by Bethany Wolf
Summary: Follow Bethany and Gareth Wolf, a pair of twins with a taste for adventure, to find a lost heirloom and defeat an accent King who wishes to return from the dead and rule the world. But what kind of trouble will they get into in the process?
1. Chapter 1: And so our story begins

**My friend and I wrote this story Junior year of high school. It started off as nothing more than passing notes but it quickly escalated to a full blown story. The original story is nothing more than cartoons and word bubbles, but I loved this story so much, that I decided to write it out.**

**This is an original story, but has a ton of references to video games, anime, and some sci-fi and fantasy. I originally based the story off of the Fable series and Skyrim. I hope you enjoy reading my story and have fun finding all the hidden references and ester eggs.**

**This is an original story with original characters, but I Do Not own any of the references or characters that may be mentioned in this story.**

**Prologue**

The Legend of the Swords

Long ago, there was a mighty nation called Atlantis that was ruled under a tyrant of a King named Eli. This nation had many enemies that desired the great riches of the land, and so, the nation was constantly at war.

In a village, not far from the great cities, lived a blacksmith with his wife and daughter. Because of the great dangers of the many wars and battles that came upon the land, the blacksmith decided to create a weapon that he could pass down to his daughter to ensure the safety of his family. He created a great sword, the best he had ever crafted, which he named Excalibur. It was forged from the strongest elements of the earth and contained all the power of the land. He gave the sword the ability to transform and consume the magic of any opposing enemies. He used his own blood to lock this mighty power so that any descendants of his and only his bloodline had the ability to unlock it.

When word came to King Eli about this magnificent sword, he desired to have it for his own against the many warring nations that came against him. And so, he sent an elite team to retrieve it but found that he was unable to wield the sword. Out of rage, he killed the blacksmith and hired another to create a twin to Excalibur.

In an attempt to save the world from Eli's Tyranny, the blacksmith's daughter stole back what was rightfully hers from the other blacksmith that Eli had hired. Unfortunately, it was to late, the blacksmith had already made the replica and named it Mordrid. With the same abilities as Excalibur, Mordrid was only unlocked with the bloodline of Eli.

And so, the day came when Eli would use his sword in battle, the power was so great that it killed him and possessed his soul in itself. An Assassin, whose family had served Eli for generations, had stolen this sword, and hid it away from the world. This secret was the heirloom that the Assassin's family would carry for many decades to come.

**Chapter 1 And So our story begins...**

Bethany and I had been fighting for hours by now. The sun was starting to set but there is no way I was going to back down now. Tonight was a full moon, which means our demon blood would be stirring up inside us.

I decide to summon some dragons to help aid my attack. I send them towards her and they start to surround her with lightning and rain clouds by their side. "Zeus' Wrath!" I shout at her. Bethany takes some damage, but its not enough to let me win just yet. The dragons disappear and she decided to use a clone jutsu. Thousands of Bethanys surround me. They all attack at one time and I almost cant fight them all off. They didn't do a lot of damage, but it sure took a lot out of me.

This is how our night goes on. I surround myself with a flame shield while she uses a rose whip. I turn into a dragon while she evolves her sword.

Anyways, when night fell, it was a whole different ball game. We both take a break to look up at the beautiful full moon that hung in the sky. Bethany transforms first. Her long red hair with black tips changes to a baby blue with white tips. Her blue wolf ears and tale appear and I start to feel myself transform. My white ears and tale appear and my black hair turns white with the red tips turning blue. I am the opposite of Bethany when it comes to colors, but when it comes to power we are same.

She takes a stance, and I see her flashing her fangs. I take a stance and do the same. I growl and snarl at her.

"Gareth! Bethany! INSIDE NOW!" my mother calls out to us. "Ugh. Just my luck…" I think as I drag myself to the house, Bethany following behind me with the same disappointed look on her face.

"You know what tomorrow is…. I don't want either of you dead. Its hard enough that your father is." Mom says with weakness in her voice. Which is a rare thing. My mother is a full-fledged wolf demon. She is already centuries old, but still as beautiful and young as ever.

My father was a human, but he was the strongest there was. He could take down hundreds of wolf demons in one sitting. As strong as my father was, there was one thing he couldn't fight against, time. My father was only 57 when he died, but the many years of battle and wielding the great sword of Excalibur, had taken a toll on his body and tomorrow was the 3rd year anniversary of his death.

I was really close to my father, so I wasn't looking forward to tomorrow at all.


	2. Chapter 2: Some old friends

**Chapter 2: Some old friends...**

The next morning, I meet my family downstairs for breakfast. Biscuits and pancakes, of course, dad's favorite. Even though it had been 3 years, my mother still set a place for him at the table. No one ever complained about it.

"Mandeline said she was planning on visiting us today." Bethany says while eating a biscuit.

"ahhhh Why her?" I complain.

"Because she's a family friend and would like to pay her respects to daddy." Bethany argues back.

"But she's an idiot!"

Bethany kicks me in the shin. "OWW!" I yell. "Shush up would you?"

There is a knock at the door. "Speak of the devil…" I let my head drop on the table out of frustration and growl.

"Behave yourself!" Bethany tells me as she gets up to answer the door.

"Mandy! You made it!" she greated her.  
>"Bethany! It's been way too long." Says the idiot (Ok..OK..Mandaline….happy?)<p>

Mandaline walks over to meet me. I get up and greet her with a hug. "Hey there Mandy. Long time no see" I say stubbornly.

"Ah Gareth… as handsome as ever. You look a lot..stronger than I remember." Mandaline blushes but I shoo her off.

Mandaline has always been beautiful. She has Beautiful curly brown hair, blue eyes, and all the right curves in all the right places. I'll never understand the nothingness that goes through her head though.

"Oh! Guys!" Mandaline calls for our attention.

"Sano said he was coming by too. He really wanted to see Bethany." Mandaline smirks and nudges Bethany in the arm, who, at this point, is as red as her hair.

"He didn't say that. Stop messing with me!" she yells back in panic.

We all laugh at the situation Bethany was in. I walk up to her and give her a reassuring pat on the back. "Ahh why won't you just marry him already?!" I tease her. She hits me in the chest. "Shut up! Its not happening!"

"The look on your face says otherwise" I say to make her blush even more.

She looks at me evilly and I begin to somewhat regret what I say. Who knows what she will do now at tomorrows fight.

We all sit down on the couch and mom brings out the old albums. We sit and reminisce of the old days.

Another knock came from the door. This time I got up to get it. It was just as Mandy had said, Sanosuke Inohara was standing in the doorway with a hand full of fresh flowers. "Sano!" I give him a hug and greet him. Sano is my best friend after all. We've been friends since grade school.

"Bethany! Wow… you're beautiful!" Sano embraces my sister and gives her the flowers. "For you, my dear. For a day such as this, it is the least I can do." He says. Bethany blushes and accepts the flowers. "Sano… You didn't have to.." sano interrupts her and takes one single rose from her bouquet. "This one is for your father… A great and mighty hero!"

Sano was from the orient. He had the pointed eyes and black, straight hair that he kept parted to the side. I can never remember the name of the country, but from what I hear, the warriors are very strong and honorable.

The entire day was a bittersweet one. On one side, there was the people I was with. We played card games and talked for hours. I had so enjoyed their company (Yes…even Mandy was tolerable today).

Sano and Mandy had decided that they would stay the night and everyone in the house was sound asleep. Except for me. I couldn't sleep. Just like every year, this day was the hardest day for my mind to rest. Thoughts of my father and the sword that I wanted to inherit.


	3. Chapter 3: Let the games begin

**Chapter 3: Let the games begin...**

The next morning, after breakfast, I put on the basic amour that I always wear when in a fight. Bethany knocks on my door and walks in.

"Ready to loose, so I can become the next great hero?" she teases.

"You mean, so you can loose and I become the next hero?" I tease back. She laughs and we both walk outside, into the field where we always fought. Sano and Mandaline join us today.

"Are you both still doing this 'Excalbur inheritance' thing?" Sano asks me as I clean my sword and prepare.

"Yea…I want that sword! You know what kind of power I would have with it? I could defeat any enemy." I said confidently.

Sano looks at me with concern. "Don't you…Don't you ever worry about killing her?"

"Sano…" I turn to him. "I worry about that everyday. I don't want to hurt my sister or kill her. This fight isn't suppose to end in death….its just a… really complicated game of mercy." I smile at him.

"Why do you want to win so bad? Why not just let her have the sword and not worry about these games?"

I stop what I'm doing and look him in the eye.

"Because I want to protect the world. I want to become what my father was and be even better at it. I want to join the King's army and become someone of great importance." I explain.

"Why does Bethany want this sword so bad?" Sano asks

"She wants to prove herself to the world. She was often looked at as week when she was younger. Got picked on a lot. You remember… You were there."

Sano nods in agreement as he remembers the countless times that him and Gareth would have to save dear Bethany from trouble.

"Alright man…. Just know one thing." He adds.

"What is that?"

"If you kill her… Ill kill you" Sano says with a big grin on his face. He says that as if he's joking, but a shiver still ran down my spine. I truly believe that with motivation like that, he could very well kill me.

The battle begins just as any other has. Mandaline and Sano sit on the sidelines. Mandaline watches with concern while Sano just glares.

After an hour or so, Mandaline gets up and interrupts the sword battle.

"Ya know…. I feel like this is getting no where." She heads to one of our sheds that keep a various amounts of training weapons. When she came out, she was wielding a basic sword and shield. "I'm fighting with you. Besides, it will be more fun with the three of us."

"Make that four of us!" Sano joins in.

"Guys…. This is supposed to be serious…" I argue.

"Come on Gareth… Just this once, let make this a game…just like old times." Bethany's words pursuade me and I agree.

We had decided to head deeper into the words. The scene would make for better game. We set up a base in the middle of the forest where the trees were farther apart. We set up 4 platforms, one for each of us. The game would be that we would go into the forest and collect flags and then bring the flags back to our own platform. The first person to collect all the flags and put them on their platform before sunset would win the game.

After everything was set up, we all head to the "starting line" and Bethany fires a flare to indicate that the games have began.

I run straight for the tops of the trees. It would be easier for me to jump from branch to branch and I would be able to have a better view of my surroundings.

After about 5 minutes, I spot my first flag. I jump down from the branch I was on and dash towards the flag. I reach my arm out to grab it but I am stopped when an arrow flies from the right, straight across my face, barley missing me by mere centimeters and hitting a tree on my left. I turn to the right to see who sent the arrow.

"Mandaline… of course…"

Mandaline jumps down from a branch and reloads her weapon. She walks closer, but doesn't loosen her grip on the arrow or her aim on me.

I try to be clever and grab the flag, but instead of running forward, I jumped towards a nearby tree and climbed up. A few arrows follow me but don't hit me.

I start running through the trees again and try to get up higher as I go.

I loose Mandaline in the process and start to smirk and the victory. Now I just have to find the other flags before anyone else.

Suddenly, a gunshot is heard and I feel an overwhelming pain in my shoulder. I don't let it stop me and I run for it. Another shot is heard and I feel a new pain in my lower back. The shock was so overpowering that I fell out of the trees and hit the ground on my back. Breathing is impossible now, blood starts to flow from my shoulder and back and soaks my shirt.

"Who was that? Where did it even come from?" I try to breathe as I sit myself up.

The effort is useless and I black out.


End file.
